Hi HearToLearn,

Thank you! I really like analysing lyrics (and music for that matter, too). I'm really grateful that floyd tolerates it! I've found that sitting down and writing out an analysis is the most effective way for me to hone my own skills. Because floyd is so good at what he does, I've learnt a great deal from him over the years.

My 'go to' books are...

1. Pat Pattison, "Writing Better Lyrics" (second edition)

2. Pat Pattison, "Songwriting: Essential Guide to Lyric Form and Structure"

3. Pat Pattison, "Songwriting: Essential Guide to Rhyming" (second edition)

4. Pat Pattison, "Songwriting Without Boundaries" (This is a collection of lyric writing exercises designed to help developing lyric writers find their voice. It's quite demanding to work through.)

5. Andrea Stolpe, "Popular Lyric Writing: 10 Steps to Effective Storytelling"

6. Jai Josefs, "Writing Music for Hit Songs"

7. Philip Furia, "The Poets of Tin Pan Alley"

By way of background information...

Pat Pattison is a professor of lyric writing and poetry at Berklee College, Boston. Many regard him as the world authority on understanding lyric structure. I have been very fortunate to have gone to around 25 - 30 weekend seminars with Pat over the course of the last 10 years. (His wife is from where I live and he's a regular visitor to Melbourne, Australia).

Andrea Stolpe is one of Pat's past students who took his songwriting strategies in a different and effective direction. Her book is very insightful. It's the combination of her and Pat's approach that provides most of my tools for analysis.

Jai Josef's book is probably not so easy to obtain these days. It has some really good musical observations and discussions in it.

Philip Furia is a professor of English and American Studies. His book covers lyricists from late 1800s through to early 1960s. It's a fantastic read and contains a level of insight rarely, if ever, met in songwriting books.

Regards
Noel

MY SONGS...
Audiophile BIAB 2024